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Karate, sports, fitness, therapy

Monthly Archives: December 2015

Browsing through Facebook I have come across this quote, “Karate should be FUN”, by Jesse Enkamp.

I don’t agree with this statement, I believe that Karate should not be “fun”. Let’s start by looking at the definition of fun. Fun can be said to be:

Enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure.

Playfulness or good humour.

Behaviour or an activity that is intended purely for amusement and should not be interpreted as having any serious or malicious purpose.

In my opinion karate should be hard work with a focussed mind, with the practitioners focus being on one thing – training. Karate can be rewarding and enjoyable but after training. During the session you are committed to pay attention, to be focussed and work hard.

When we have fun our mind is not focussed, it wonders in enjoyment and pleasure therefore it cannot execute techniques with concentration. Performance decreases, awareness drops and people become relaxed and careless, which can lead to injuries or bad technique.

I have never heard a committed athlete who has achieved success say how fun their training sessions are. Instead they say that all of their hard work has paid off.

When people look at martial arts as a way to just have fun their achievement levels are not likely to be high as they lack focus and the drive to work hard.

As a result you can see videos like these (please see link below). There is nothing wrong with a bit of fun but please don’t call it a martial art.